China would continue to invest more in new computer chipmaking equipment than any other geographical region this year, despite a significant year-over-year decline, followed by South Korea and Taiwan, industry group SEMI said in a report yesterday.
In its fabrication plant spending forecast, SEMI said global investments in gear would rise 2 percent this year to US$110 billion, the sixth consecutive year in a row of growth, due to investment in tools needed to make chips for artificial intelligence (AI).
The impact of AI would likely be even stronger next year, SEMI added, when investment is expected to grow by another 18 percent.
Photo: AFP
China is the largest consumer of chips, and firms there have been expanding chipmaking capacity for years, but they began a huge sprint in mid-2023 and last year with government support, as part of a drive to lessen dependence on imported chips in response to restrictions imposed by the US government.
ASML Holding NV, the largest chip equipment manufacturer, forecasts sales of 32 billion to 38 billion euros (US$34.5 billion to US$40.9 billion) for this year, implying market share of more than 25 percent for its sub-sector, lithography, where it enjoys a dominant position.
Other top equipment firms include Applied Materials Inc, KLA Corp, LAM Research Corp and Tokyo Electron Ltd, though Chinese equipment makers such as Naura Technology Group Co (北方華創), Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc (AMEC, 中微半導體) and Huawei Technologies Co (華為) affiliate SiCarrier Technologies Co (新凱來) are growing fast.
Photo: AFP
Chinese spending is expected to fall to US$38 billion this year, down 24 percent from US$50 billion last year, but still ahead of US$21.5 billion in South Korea, where SK Hynix Inc and Samsung Electronics Co are expanding capacity for memory chips.
Spending in Taiwan, where leading foundry Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) manufactures AI chips for Nvidia Corp and others, is projected at US$21 billion.
Among other regions, the Americas and Japan are each expected to spend US$14 billion this yaer, while Europe would spend US$9 billion, SEMI said.
DAMAGE REPORT: Global central banks are assessing war-driven inflation risks as the law of unintended consequences careens around the world, spiking oil prices Central banks from Washington to London and from Jakarta to Taipei are about to make their first assessments of economic damage after more than two weeks of conflict between the US and Iran. Decisions this week encompassing every member of the G7 and eight of the world’s 10 most-traded currency jurisdictions are likely to confirm to investors that the specter of a new inflation shock is already worrying enough to prompt heightened caution. The US Federal Reserve is widely expected to do exactly what everyone anticipated weeks ahead of its March 17-18 policy gathering: hold rates steady. The narrative surrounding that
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) share of the global foundry market rose to almost 70 percent last year amid booming demand for artificial intelligence (AI), market information advisory firm TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said on Thursday. The contract chipmaker posted US$122.54 billion in revenue, up 36.1 percent from a year earlier, accounting for 69.9 percent of the global market, TrendForce said. Its share was up from 64.4 percent in 2024, it said. TSMC’s closest rival, Samsung Electronics, was a distant second, posting US$12.63 billion in sales, down 3.9 percent from a year earlier, for a 7.2 percent share of the global market. In the
At a massive shipyard in North Vancouver, Canadian workers grind metal beams for a powerful new icebreaker crucial to cementing the country’s presence in the increasingly contested arctic. Icebreakers are specialized, expensive vessels able to navigate in the frozen far north. And “this is the crown jewel,” said Eddie Schehr, vice president of production at the Seaspan shipyard. For Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who heads to Norway next Friday to observe arctic defense drills involving troops from 14 NATO states, Canada’s extreme north has emerged as a strategic priority. “Canada is and forever will be an Arctic nation,” he said ahead of
Chinese entrepreneur Frank Gao used to spend long hours running his social media accounts but now outsources the chore to artificial intelligence (AI) agent tool OpenClaw, which is taking China by storm despite official warnings over cybersecurity. OpenClaw, created in November by an Austrian coder, differs from bots such as ChatGPT because it can execute real-life tasks such as sending e-mails, organizing files or even booking flight tickets. “Since January, I’ve spent hours on the lobster every day,” Gao said in an interview, referring to OpenClaw’s red crustacean mascot. “We’re family.” After downloading OpenClaw, users connect it to artificial intelligence models of their
RSS